Farideh Lashai Iranian, 1944-2013
Untitled, N/A
Oil on canvas
80 x 120 cm
31 1/2 x 47 in
31 1/2 x 47 in
Copyright The Artist
The lion holds a charged place within Iran’s visual and political history; emblem of sovereignty, myth, and collective projection, historically paired with the mythical bird Huma as a sign of...
The lion holds a charged place within Iran’s visual and political history; emblem of sovereignty, myth, and collective projection, historically paired with the mythical bird Huma as a sign of fortune and legitimacy. Lashai approaches it without proclamation. In her hands, the lion hovers between inheritance and doubt. As Rumi writes, “We are all lions, but lions of the banner; our charge is driven by the wind, moment by moment.” In this body of work, the lion ceases to function as emblem alone. It becomes a field of tension: where personal grief, national mythology, and the volatile atmosphere of the present remain finely, almost unbearably, intertwined.